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Lowell High School 9th Grade Admissions

9th Grade Lowell Application Process

Lowell High School is the only high school with academic and merit-based admissions criteria.  For complete information, please see the Lowell application form and the Lowell Admissions Policy document that is also posted on the SFUSD website.  

Applicants to Lowell must reside in San Francisco with the parent at the time of application and continue to live in San Francisco while attending Lowell.  Interdistrict permits are not allowed for admission to Lowell. Any application with falsified information will nullify any application or result in a canceled assignment.  

Ninth grade applications must be submitted together with an SFUSD Application listing Lowell as one of the school requests by, Friday, December16, 2011.  In addition to Lowell, each student may apply for any number of other SFUSD high schools on the application.  All requested schools including Lowell should be listed in order of preference.  

Current SFUSD 8th grade students do not need to submit additional documents for proof of address unless the student’s address has been recently changed.  Non-SFUSD students must submit a picture ID of parent or guardian, proof ofbirth, and two proofs of address as indicated on the application, when submitting the applications.  Seventh and 8th grade report card grades and CST/STAR test results will be used for admissions criteria. Current SFUSD students who have taken the 7th grade STAR test will not be eligible to take the Lowell Admissions Test.  Non-SFUSD students or any current student that did not take the 7th grade STAR test in another California public school must sign up to take the Lowell Admissions Test that will be administered at Lowell on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 or Saturday, January 14, 2012.  Sign up on the Lowell application form to reserve a space for the test.

Any other documentation pertaining to extracurricular activities, extenuating circumstances, or demonstrating ability to overcome hardship maybe included with the enrollment applications.

Lowell Selection Process

There is no sibling priority for Lowell.  All students must meet entrance criteria to receive an assignment offer.  

All applications for Lowell are reviewed, and students who meet entry criteria are identified prior to the general assignment run for the first placement round.  Qualifying students who list Lowell as the first choice school will receive an assignment offer to Lowell.  Those who qualify but list another school as a higher choice than Lowell will go into the assignment run.  If they receive a placement into a higher choice school, they will not receive an offer to Lowell but to the higher choice school instead.  Therefore, it is important to list your choices of schools by preference.  Students who do not qualify for Lowell will not be negatively impacted (it will be as if the school was not listed as a choice school) and will be included in the assignment process for all the other choices listed on their applications.  

All students are reviewed and identified for Lowell admissions in Round 1 and assignment offers will be mailed out by March 16, 2012.  There is no waiting pool or appeal process for Lowell.

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